Kitten Socialization

March 19, 2026

Part 4: Next Level Socialization

Lucy Drury

“Did that cat just give you a high five??!!!”

Sometimes at a cat show, when the show hall isn’t overflowing with visitors and I have some down time, I will take my cat out of the show shelter, have him sit on the grooming space, and give me a high five – properly rewarding him with a treat, of course. I do this for a couple of reasons. The first is that if there’s been a long time between judging rings, I want him to be alert and attentive to the judge, rather than behaving like he just woke up. Asking him to think a little bit before going into the ring greatly increases the odds that he will not flop over on the judging table and stare into space. Another reason we do a high five is for the crowd reaction. I want people to know that cats are as trainable as dogs in their own way. They are completely capable of being adventure cats, performing cats, models, and, of course, show cats. While any cat can be trained, it is far better if you select your kitten with your goals in mind and begin their training from the moment they set a paw in your home.

Myth Busting

I often see questions from cat owners in social media regarding activities such as hiking, going on vacation, going along on errands, walking on a leash, or being an all-around adventure cat. Inevitably, someone will rain on their parade and tell them that cats aren’t meant to do any of those things – it’s just too stressful.

I cringe when I hear that. Tell that to the cats on the Aegean islands and Cyprus who are living their best life among the natives and tourists of those islands, with little if any fear of water, beaches, or humans. Tell them that it’s too stressful to hang out with strange humans or explore new places. That does beg the question of why these particular kittens and cats are so confident and friendly, while my kitten (who looked so happy at the breeders’ cattery) is terrified of its own shadow when I get it home?

Early Exposure

Early exposure to an ever-changing environment is what makes Aegean and Cyprus cats so adaptable. The kittens on these islands grow up amid crowds and roaring seas while they are happily nursing away. Their tummies get full, mama’s pheromones tell them all is well, and they peacefully nap snuggled with their mama and littermates. When they wander around with mom and littermates, kind humans pet them and give them treats. Life is good. There is no reason to fear. The cats on these islands are cherished and cared for by the citizens, unlike feral cats in some other parts of the world.

You don’t have to live on a Greek island to give your kitten the early exposure they need to become an adventure cat, model, or show cat. In the first two parts of this series we discussed how to tell if a breeder is doing a good job of socializing kittens in the cattery and how to set your new kitten up for success when you bring them home. If you have followed these guidelines and have a happy, friendly kitten – congratulations! You are ready for the next level.

Picking the Next-Level Kitten

Before we discuss next-level socialization, we are taking a step back to Part 1 of this series where we left off . While we discussed in detail how a breeder should be socializing their kittens, we did not discuss how to decide which kitten in the litter would be the most suited to becoming something more than a cat that never leaves the house except for veterinary visits. How do you decide which one to pick? While almost any well-socialized cat can become a show cat or an adventure cat, training cats to do animal acting, modeling, live performance, or work as a therapy cat requires some attributes that go beyond being confident and friendly.

For kittens that are in their early development stages, the first thing you want to look for is the ability to focus and stay on task – even at an early age. How well do they follow a toy and come to your voice? How long will they play with you? Does one kitten stay and play with you more than the others? Are they looking directly at you when you play? Do they let you know they want to play some more? You can begin to see these differences between kittens as early as four weeks.

Their problem-solving ability also becomes evident at an early age. I had a young kitten figure out how to get up on a bed that was too tall for her to jump on. She wanted to get up on the bed to sit next to me after I had put her down on the floor to do something else. She surveyed the room, then ran up a pillow next to a nightstand, then made the small leap to the bed, then proudly strutted with tail held high across the bed, and sat next to me. I was astonished. She was only about twelve weeks or so at the time. It wasn’t trial and error. I watched her analyze the situation without moving, except her ears twitching from side to side. Then she ran full tilt up the pillow, across the nightstand, and onto the bed without hesitation. This requires a high degree of intelligence and focus in a kitten. The kitten who is able to problem-solve this way is definitely the one you want to bring home.

Another attribute (perhaps the most important in your future star) is a healthy appetite. You want the kitten who runs to the door to greet you because it thinks you are going to feed it, not the one who’s still playing in the corner with the spring and must be carried to the food dish while its littermates are chowing down. You don’t want a picky eater or one who takes a couple bites and then wanders off.

Every Meal Should Be a Learning Opportunity

Most trainers will tell you that unless your cat has an excellent food drive, it will be difficult to train them on anything requiring focus and attention. Start building their food motivation from the day they are born or from when you first bring them home.

Nursing and weaning kittens present opportunities for training as you have a mostly captive audience! Is your kitten going to be a show cat? Start blasting the hair dryer when you see them nursing. First a second or two, then work up to several minutes. Nursing kittens care little about anything other than nursing. Introducing your kittens to solid food? Get a set of key finders that can be remotely activated and set off the beeper when you set down the food. They will start to come running whenever they hear that beeper go off. If you feed them on a moveable training mark or feeding mat, you can train them at a very early age to come to that mark when they hear the beeper, even if there’s no food bowl on it immediately.

Once a kitten is fully weaned, managing the timing of their meals and when you train or expose them to new (and possibly scary) activity is critical. You know how you feel sluggish after a big meal, like you want to take a nap? Maybe it’s hard for you to work on complicated projects at work after you’ve come back from lunch. The same is true for your cat. Meal timing is critical—managing the timing of when they eat and when you want to want to encourage them to do something they may be reluctant to do is a fundamental step in training a next-level cat. We are not suggesting that you starve your cat: We are suggesting you use every meal and every treat as an opportunity to build your cat’s confidence and strengthen its bond with you. Even if you don’t have time for a full training session, asking them to sit on their mark and give you a high five before you set their food bowl down takes seconds and reinforces the idea that there’s no free lunch.

If you free feed, you may be wondering how you build food motivation. The short answer is you can’t. Few cats must be free fed, as free feeding is a generally a response to the owner’s needs, not the cat’s. Cats are not free fed in the wild … even the ones lucky enough to live in a caretaker community, who don’t have to hunt and kill their food, must still make the rounds looking for a food bowl that hasn’t been finished by someone else. If your cat must go a few hours with no available food, it won’t starve. The amount of food it requires is knowable: simply divide the amount of food it consumes (or should consume) per day into multiple meals and plan acclimating or training sessions around them. Don’t forget to include treats and snacks you feed into that total amount. Then start the acclimation or training, and reward or reinforce the behaviors you want. Don’t make your sessions too long, and reward honest attempts with bites of the meal. And if you get the behavior you are seeking for that session, jackpot that behavior with the rest of that meal all at once, then end the session. You always want to end on a good note. If they don’t cooperate, pick up the food and try again later. Don’t scold them-  just quietly leave. If you are doing desensitization sessions, put the food down, let them start eating, and then start whatever it is you want to desensitize them to. You may want to feed them in a crate to keep them from running and hiding. We used this technique to desensitize a kitten we were sending to a family with a cat-loving teen who was a quadriplegic and on a ventilator. The family recorded the sounds of the ventilator and suction device, and we played the recordings while the kitten was eating. When we took him for his first visit on harness and leash, he laid quietly on the boy’s chest and had no fear of the sounds of the ventilator.

Yes, kittens can be meal fed, too. It just requires a bit more work on your part, probably a lot more work if it’s a large litter. Keep your sessions short, and if they are trying and cooperating, reward the behavior. It doesn’t have to be perfect, particularly when starting out.

Ready, Set, Explore!

Once you’ve built an excellent food drive in your next-level kitten, it’s all about exposure in small, incremental steps, shaping your cat towards the end behavior. Want your cat to be an animal actor in commercials? Start by pointing cameras at them – real cameras with flashing lights, not your cell phone. Want your cat to be a therapy cat? Take it with you when you visit family and friends, to pet stores or other pet-friendly public places, and let people handle them. Want a rock-solid show cat? Get a wire crate and feed them in it to simulate a judging cage. Take them out of the crate like a judge would and then put them through a simulated judging routine. (Pro tip: Be careful of the head when your cat may be teething.) Push them around shopping malls in a stroller to get them used to people walking by their show shelter and peering in at them. Play sounds of crackling, squeaking loudspeakers.

Remember to be patient and not push too hard or too fast toward the desired goal. Reward any positive step forward; this includes any signs of adaptation to the new environment, such as stretching, yawning, sighing, and holding their tail high and proud. Praise them profusely, often calling them by name. Do not punish them or become visibly frustrated. Never yell at them while training. Silence and a request to try again should be your response to less than desirable outcomes. Be prepared to take a step backwards if your cat doesn’t seem ready for the next step forward. Flooding a cat with a scary, new experience can be just as damaging as never exposing them at all.

We have given you a basic outline on how to desensitize and train your kitten. Now it’s up to you to plan out an incremental strategy and help your fur baby become that next-level kitten who can go with you everywhere!